


the sparrow

by kaithartic (bluedreaming)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - MAMA (Music Video), Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 16:24:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5463251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedreaming/pseuds/kaithartic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You can trust me," the boy says, his pale blue eyes locking into Jongin's gaze. "I have just as much to lose."</p>
            </blockquote>





	the sparrow

**Author's Note:**

> Title from [Quietly Awake](https://borealsons.bandcamp.com/track/quietly-awake) by Boreal Sons.

 

He knows he's not supposed to be different.

"Everyone, everything the same," is the rule pounded into their heads, ever since the dark time that he doesn't remember, that no one remembers, but everyone listens and believes it.

Sometimes Lu Han wonders if it's like believing in God.

"I saw a girl yesterday," Sornen says, raising his voice in the lunch room. Lu Han ducks his head; he already knows what Sornen was going to say.

(((Freak.)))

"She had wings" he says triumphantly, as though he's discovered the perpetrator of a gruesome crime. "She was wearing a coat but it slipped off and I saw them."

Lu Han tries to ignore the flip-flopping in his stomach, tries to focus on the taste of the gruel in his mouth, the texture of the lumps. The school cooks leave a lot to be desired.

"I saw her family heading for the Fringes this morning on the way to school," Sornen concludes, and Lu Han swallows the lump in his throat.

(((Good riddance.)))

He wishes he could cover the ears of his inner hearing, but it's a futile effort. _Don't stumble,_ he thinks, _don't stumble._

He knows it's only a matter of time.

 

Jongin looks both ways, peering around the edge of the school building, but the coast seems to be clear.

 _Don't do it,_ he thinks, but he already knows he's not going to listen. He never does, and he has too much practice ignoring the feeble voice of his conscience.

He blinks, lets the coiled up chaos in his chest unfurl, feels the not-wind whistling over his skin in the dark that's more a void of anything than an actual shadow.

When he emerges, deep in the copse of trees behind the school yard, he doesn't expect the startled face looking at him, stumbling back, a tracery green over soft skin.

 _He saw me,_ he thinks, a desperate thought looping over and over in his head, a panic he has no means of releasing. _He saw me._

Jongin opens his mouth to—

"It's okay," the boy says quickly, tongue tripping over his words. "I won't tell."

_How can I trust you?_ Jongin thinks, because he can't. No one can, not anymore.

"You can trust me," the boy says, his pale blue eyes locking into Jongin's gaze. "I have just as much to lose."

Without meaning to, Jongin's thoughts flash back to Soren, yesterday, in the lunch room. The girl with wings.

"I'm nothing as dramatic as that," the boy says, a small smile creasing his face, before he raises a hand to his mouth. "Oops."

Jongin raises his eyebrows. _You can read my thoughts,_ he thinks; after a moment the boy nods.

"Sorry," he says, though Jongin can tell he doesn't mean it. He doesn't really care either. It's strange, meeting someone else who's a little like him, someone who might understand. He watches the way the boy's eyes dart towards him, then away.

"I'm Jongin," he finally says, reaching out his hand. It's an archaic gesture no one uses anymore, a throwback to the past, but it feels oddly appropriate. The boy eyes his hand, biting his lip before he seems to come to a decision.

"I'm Lu Han," he says, and his skin is soft and warm to Jongin's touch. Their smiles meet.

Overhead, the wind rustles the leaves of the trees.

 

**Author's Note:**

> _I’ve been quietly awake without knowing that I’m alive at all._


End file.
